While many believed a dati leumi woman would be appointed to fill one of two vacant slots on the Supreme Court, this did not occur. Nether Justice Yael Wilner or Devorah Berland were recommended by the chairperson of the committee, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni. Livni opted for friendlier secular liberal justices to keep the court leaning in her political direction. Selected for the post was Justice Anat Baron along with former Attorney General Manny Mazuz, who is well-known for his pro-secular left-wing leanings. Mazuz was also the attorney general during the 2005 Disengagement Plan, giving legal backing to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to uproot Jewish communities from Gaza and Northern Shomron.
Mazuz served at attorney general from 2004-2010. To his credit he did take on political corruption, including the indictment against former President Moshe Katsav, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and former cabinet minister Chaim Ramon. He also closed the criminal file on former PM Ariel Sharon, who appointed him to his post.
61-year-old Anat Baron was born in Israel. She attended school in Tel Aviv and studied law following her military service. In 1991 she was appointed to serve on the Tel Aviv Magistrate Court after 12 years in private practice. In 2012 she was promoted to the city’s district court. Her son Ron was among the victims in the Tel Aviv terror attack in Mike’s Place eleven years ago. Justice Brown is a close friend of High Court Justice Esther Hayut, who serves on the appointment committee. Her appointment was also endorsed by Livni and opposition leader MK Yitzchak Herzog.
In short, the political left-wing applauded the appointments while the right-wing expressed criticism. For the dati leumi community, the appointments left it disappointed as many were confident a dati leumi female justice would finally have a seat on the nation’s highest court, especially since Berland served on the court in a temporary capacity from 2006-2007.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
Did the Dati Leumi think they have been accepted by the Israeli elite? Don’t the Dati Leumi realize that the pricetag for acceptance in the Israeli ruling class is to free oneself from the yoke of Torah?
The name of the learned President of the Tel-Aviv District Court is Devorah Berliner, not Berland. While she had been considered a candidate with realistic chances a decade ago, given the brief amount of time remaining until her retirement everyone knew that she was only named as a candidate this time around out of respect (and perhaps to pad the list). Absolutely no one expected her to be appointed. She will continue to head the Tel-Aviv District Court, which is one of the most influential legal positions in the country, until her retirement.
Haifa District Court Judge Yael Willner she had an outside shot at best this time around. But her inclusion in the short list gave her some public exposure and may set her up as a viable candidate for the next round of appointments in 2017.
There was no attempt by HaBayit HaYehudi to push for either appointment this time around, the D”L press and websites mentioned the candidacies of the two only in passing and I dare say that very few in the D”L community expected either of the learned judges to be appointed this time around.